The symposium's intriguing title refers to "orphan films" and the importance of film as an historical record.

"An orphan film is any sort of moving image that might have been neglected," said Dan Streible, and art history and film studies professor and conference coordinator. "A film is orphaned if its owner has not taken care of it or is no longer around."

There are many such films, he said. "In fact, most films have not been preserved. That means just about everything that is not a high-level Hollywood film -- and even some of those -- has not been well preserved."

One famous example is Star Wars.

"When George Lucas decided to re-release Star Wars, he found that parts of the original film were in bad shape," Streible explained. "Afterwards, there was a lot of talk about Lucas re-doing scenes of the original Star Wars for the re-release, and he did, but it was because he had to. So, the original version of Star Wars no longer exists -- and that's a movie that was made in 1977. Lucas is one of the most powerful and well-informed film producers in the world, and even he didn't look far enough ahead to manage the preservation of the film."

But "Orphans of the Storm II" won't focus solely on film preservation. Instead, it will mix screenings of rare films, scholarly lectures, panel discussions, and informal gatherings.

"The symposium is directly involved in new technology, practices, and debates," Streible said. "The goal is to bring together three constituencies that work with orphan film materials: filmmakers, scholars, and archivists. That's one of the exciting things about the orphan symposium: suddenly, you have a scientist who studies film preservation talking to a director who is looking at a film he shot 30 years ago and wondering why it's in such bad shape. Then they might talk to the archivist who will help restore the film and is wondering which version of the film to use for a public showing."

Several films will be screened, including Killer of Sheep, a feature directed by acclaimed independent director Charles Burnett. Burnett will be present to discuss his film. Other symposium highlights include:

* sessions on amateur films and early television

* newly preserved footage of women aviators, from the collection of the USC Newsfilm Library, is a featured attraction of the symposium (see sidebar, right)

* several screenings, including George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire, and a preview of Alfred Leslie's first film release in over 30 years, The Cedar Bar.

"Orphans of the Storm II" is the second such symposium sponsored by the USC Newsfilm Library and other supporters. For a complete schedule of events and speakers, or to register, visit http://www.sc.edu/filmsymposium.